Thursday, December 17, 2009

Triad (simplified Chinese: 三合会; traditional Chinese: 三合會; pinyin: Sānhéhuì; literally "Triad Society") is a term that describes many branches of Chinese underground society and/or organizations based in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and Mainland China, and also in Western countries and cities with significant Chinese populations such as New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Their activities include car theft, contract killing, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, gambling, prostitution, and other forms of racketeering. A major source of the triad's income today comes from the counterfeiting of copyrighted and trademarked goods such as clothing, coin counterfeiting, computer software, counterfeit money, handbags, music, CDs, watches and movie VCDs/DVDs. They also trade in endangered species as well as bootleg tobacco and alcohol products.

THE YAKUZA

Created in 1915, the Yamaguchi-gumi is the biggest yakuza family, 45% of all yakuza in Japan, with more than 45,000 members divided into 750 clans. Despite more than one decade of police repression, the Yamaguchi-gumi has continued to grow.From its headquarters in Kobe, it directs criminal activities throughout Japan. It is also involved in operations in Asia and the United States. Shinobu Tsukasa, also known as Kenichi Shinoda, is the Yamaguchi-gumi's current oyabun. He follows an expansionist policy, and has increased operations in Tokyo (which has not traditionally been the territory of the Yamaguchi-gumi.)

When the Japanese invaded most major Chinese cities in World War Two, the Triads offered to work for them instead. In Hong Kong, the Triads ran criminal enterprises for the Japanese. The Japanese united the gangs under an association called the "Hing Ah Kee Kwan" (Asia Flourishing Organization). The gangsters were used to help police the residents of Hong Kong, and to suppress any anti-Japanese activity.